CF-to-SATA hardware interface for RAW recording (fork)

Started by Grunf, May 17, 2013, 03:10:09 PM

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NyaChan

Hi, we are a storage device manufacturer! We already make a prototype of a low cost SSD to CFast / CF and more all in one solution. See you soon in the market! Welcome to ask for more information ;D

DeafEyeJedi

5D3.113 | 5D3.123 | EOSM.203 | 7D.203 | 70D.112 | 100D.101 | EOSM2.* | 50D.109


falkwyn

Hello guys, got this feedback from the folks at CBOX
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/648471422/rig-friendly-c-box-system-use-any-ssd-on-your-cfas

My original message

"Hello,
I've been using Magic Lantern on a Canon 5DIII for a few years now and am very happy with the results, I use the setup for professional jobs and it works very well.
Just one down side,   I would love to be able to get stable 50 to 60 Fps raw video at 1920 x 1080 but CF card speeds max out at just below 100 MBps,
this speed limit also creates a bit of a bottleneck when offloading.
Have you looked into making a product similar to yours for Compact Flash that has high transfer speeds?  If so, please let me know.
Thank you,"

and very prompt reply

"It is our understanding that the CF bus on the 5D3 is limited to around 100mb/s so even with a faster media storage option you'd likely not get better results. Clifton uses ML raw on his 5D3 frequently and he's looked thoroughly into this very issue.

It really is a great camera and the ML raw files are awesome. But without some pretty serious hardware modification, the camera likely won't perform the way you're looking for.


Sincerely,

Jayne
Atoch C2S Support"



jtvision

599$?. Too expensive. I can get Blackmagic Video Assist for lower price. This records 1080p@60fps.

kitor

I written this already: CBOX is nothing more than overpriced two connectors and nice case. CFast is just SATA in different form-factor. They won't help you as they designed nothing, and all they are writing about possibilities and costs is just PR.

What you need here is somehow bridge CF IDE implementation with SATA drive, that requires creating some custom circuits.
Too many Canon cameras.
If you have a dead R, RP, 250D mainboard (e.g. after camera repair) and want to donate for experiments, I'll cover shipping costs.

hindra

Did we ever get a cf card extender to work? Can we use raspberry pi as the controller to both act as a cf card to the camera and unload it to the ssd inside a USB 3.0 enclosure attached to the raspberry pi? Pi can power the drive so we only have to worry about power to the pi.
SL1 100D.100A - 5D - 7D2 - 5D3 1.2.3

kitor

Since when RPi has USB 3.0? And no, you can't do it.
Too many Canon cameras.
If you have a dead R, RP, 250D mainboard (e.g. after camera repair) and want to donate for experiments, I'll cover shipping costs.

beauchampy

Something I came across the other day (but probably nothing)..

The Red One CF module seems to be some kind of CF -> SSD converter?


Walter Schulz

Does it work as an UDMA-7 device emulating a CF-card?
The video lacks some information but it looks like its connected to an SATA output port and CF-Card is the storage media.
The people here are looking for the other way round.


kitor

Standard IDE-SATA adapter inside. I have similar one, identical from-factor.
And yes, it's definitely CF card -> CFast (SATA) adapter.
Too many Canon cameras.
If you have a dead R, RP, 250D mainboard (e.g. after camera repair) and want to donate for experiments, I'll cover shipping costs.

alexidoia

Hello,

So there is still no solution ?
Me too I love the raw feature of ML but I can't use it if I have to change my card every 10 minutes for 2K recording on 64Gig card (which is not cheap).
This is really what lacks this camera.

Alex

Markus

Buy a 256gb card. Use 10bit or compressed 14bit and get up to 90+ min recordings one one Card.

Dmitriy84759

This is also not a good solution, Markus. It is quite expensive - for the cost of two Cf 256Gb (total 512Gb) card you could but great samsung ssd with total 2Gb space.

deanziyangyu

Hate to break the silence, but this is probably the closest we have gotten so far...



deanziyangyu

Simply put, it is Toshiba 1.8" hard drive 50 pin CF adapter -> CE / 40 pin ZIF IDE ribbon cable -> JMicron 20330 ATA 150MB/s to SATA solution -> mSATA SSD (pictured here a Samsung PM830 256GB version).

The assembly was not successfully powered up by a USB3 CF card reader in computer. Plugged into the 5D2, the "format CF card" options posed up initially, then turn into a "CF ERR" on the top plate LCD. The cable stays flush through the card slot.

The SSD had been partitioned as Master Boot Record and formatted as FAT32 by restoring from another SanDisk 1067x CF card. Works fully through a USB3 to SATA bridge, has sequential read / write speed unto 400MB/s.

Two possible reasons for it to not work fully:
1. The camera's card slot only supplying 3.3V instead of 5V (yet the bridge should operate on 3.3V as well, so it might just be the SSD)
2. One side of the CF connector is not perfectly aligned with the slot, so it might have a electrical connection issue.

All components should be searchable on Amazon. The price of the 256GB SSD plus all the adapters is close to 1/2 of SanDisk Extreme Pro 1067x 64GB, so probably worth the risk.

Aperture Science

I have a new Idea.

Since the CF slot is in the IDE standard, I decided to first convert the CF slot into a standard IDE 44 pin slot so I can attach IDE hard drives


After I have the IDE 44 Slot, I should be able to convert it into SATA (there are boards with good price on this).

I might have to make my own cable, since I am in China right now it should be easy to reach.
Let me try if this works.

Reply if you see any problems  :o

Walter Schulz

AFAIK UDMA-7 has never been ported to IDE/PATA hard drives ...
Really don't know if there are any PATA-SATA converters able "to speak" UDMA-7.

Aperture Science

Quote from: Walter Schulz on August 12, 2020, 12:00:16 PM
AFAIK UDMA-7 has never been ported to IDE/PATA hard drives ...
Really don't know if there are any PATA-SATA converters able "to speak" UDMA-7.

Good point, I went back to check the datasheet of the converter (JM20330)

http://www.users.on.net/~fzabkar/temp/JM20330_Spec_Rev.-2.3.pdf

There are descriptions about the Ultra DMA operation mode on page 19.
000: Device Mode 100MB/s.
001: Device Mode 133MB/s.
010: Device Mode 150MB/s. (default)
011: Reserved.
100: Host Mode 100MB/s.
101: Host Mode 133MB/s.
110: Host Mode 150MB/s.
111: Reserved.

By putting the jumper between these three pins, users are able to select the UDMA operation.
Good Point again, but no need to worry about. ;D

Aperture Science

Quote from: deanziyangyu on July 13, 2020, 06:16:45 PM
Simply put, it is Toshiba 1.8" hard drive 50 pin CF adapter -> CE / 40 pin ZIF IDE ribbon cable -> JMicron 20330 ATA 150MB/s to SATA solution -> mSATA SSD (pictured here a Samsung PM830 256GB version).

The assembly was not successfully powered up by a USB3 CF card reader in computer. Plugged into the 5D2, the "format CF card" options posed up initially, then turn into a "CF ERR" on the top plate LCD. The cable stays flush through the card slot.

The SSD had been partitioned as Master Boot Record and formatted as FAT32 by restoring from another SanDisk 1067x CF card. Works fully through a USB3 to SATA bridge, has sequential read / write speed unto 400MB/s.

Two possible reasons for it to not work fully:
1. The camera's card slot only supplying 3.3V instead of 5V (yet the bridge should operate on 3.3V as well, so it might just be the SSD)
2. One side of the CF connector is not perfectly aligned with the slot, so it might have a electrical connection issue.

All components should be searchable on Amazon. The price of the 256GB SSD plus all the adapters is close to 1/2 of SanDisk Extreme Pro 1067x 64GB, so probably worth the risk.

I did some research on yours. You are actually very close to the solution, the external power supply is what you are missing.

Also what you need to find is the power voltage select pins on the JM20330, the default is running under 3.3v which is obvious low for a SATA device. There is another version of this broad have a jumper or switch to select the power voltage. From your description, "cannot format" is probably because of under voltage since camera is already "found" there is something in its slot.

The CF slot should not be able to provide more than 500mA of current (According to Sandisk) and most SSD nowadays are using far more than 500mA, external power supply is highly recommended.



Later I found some cheaper and easier way to do a conversion. The parts are on the way, lets wait and see. :-\

Aperture Science

Giving some more pinouts here.
What I am thinking is disconnect pin 38 and 39 and connect the power in the end so even if the power supply have problems, it wouldn't damage the camera.


deanziyangyu

Quote from: Aperture Science on August 18, 2020, 04:31:14 AM
Giving some more pinouts here.
What I am thinking is disconnect pin 38 and 39 and connect the power in the end so even if the power supply have problems, it wouldn't damage the camera.
Some really interesting progress you've made. Let's see if you can take this further :)

Aperture Science

Still making my own cable. Giving out more pinouts


Aperture Science

This is what I get so far.
It seems working but it is not. What I am pretty sure is every wires are connected, but not sure they are connected correctly.
I followed the picture I posted in the last post and connect the rest. The computer is still not reading the card but the LED seems start flashing.
Maybe it is time to make a PCB board for this? I only used one resister instead of four.

Not sure what does that flashing LED means. If you know, please help :'( For this, I didn't use any external power supply.




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